Caution: spoilers ahead for the One Piece manga
Shocking revelations regarding the true nature of Luffy's Devil Fruit could cause a headache for Netflix's upcoming One Piece TV series. Since 1997, Eiichiro Oda's One Piece has thrilled fans in both anime and manga formats. His tale follows Monkey D. Luffy, captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, on a quest to find the ancient fabled treasure known as "One Piece" and earn the title "King of the Pirates." Enjoying immense popularity both in Japan and overseas, One Piece has clocked over 1000 anime episodes and 1000 manga chapters - and the ending still doesn't feel especially imminent.
Netflix is currently developing a live-action One Piece TV series from Steven Maeda and Matt Owens, starring Iñaki Godoy as Luffy. The first four Straw Hats have also been cast (Zoro, Sanji, Nami and Usopp), alongside supporting characters such as Koby, Buggy and Arlong, which confirms Netflix's One Piece will pull from Eiichiro Oda's earliest manga chapters. As such, season 1 will almost inevitably show how Luffy obtained his famous Gomu-Gomu Devil Fruit powers - the moment his younger self innocently ate a weird, purple fruit held by Red Hair Shanks, and suddenly found his body could stretch like rubber.
Until recently, One Piece's biggest challenge in translating Luffy's backstory to live-action was making rubbery arms look convincing, but chapter 1044 of Eiichiro Oda's manga poses an even bigger obstacle. For 25 years, One Piece maintained that Luffy's Devil Fruit was the paramecia-type Gomu-Gomu (Gum Gum) fruit. Apparently, that was just a story concocted by the World Government to hide its true title - the mythical zoan Hito-Hito (Human-Human) fruit, model: Nika. The real reason Luffy's body becomes stretchy is because Nika the Sun God possessed a body of rubber, and that characteristic was apparently the first level unlocked after Luffy ate the mythical zoan Devil Fruit. Since then, Luffy has been slowly developing his fruit's hidden power until Nika finally awakens during the battle against Kaido.
This game-changing reveal completely re-frames Luffy's origin story - and gives Netflix's live action One Piece a problem. When Iñaki Godoy debuts in episode 1, begins throwing his stretchy arms around and proudly declares, "I ate the Gum-Gum fruit," audiences will already be thinking, "No, you haven't." When flashbacks show a panicked Shanks fretting because "Luffy just ate the Gum-Gum fruit," viewers will inwardly respond with, "No, he didn't." By the time Netflix's One Piece premieres, the truth about Luffy's Devil Fruit would've aired in anime form, meaning pretty much everyone watching the live-action adaptation will be aware this major aspect of Luffy's origin story is a lie, undermining the story Maeda and Owens are trying to recreate.
Obviously, Netflix's One Piece isn't going to reveal the true name of Luffy's Devil Fruit in season 1 (more like season 21...), but now Eiichiro Oda has dropped his bombshell, it might pay to subtly foreshadow how all isn't as it seems. We now know Shanks' Red Hair pirates stole the Gomu-Gomu fruit from a World Government ship. Live-action Shanks could reference this, and maybe ponder why the Marines were so interested in a fruit that turns one's body into rubber, giving a subtle indication that there's more to the Gomu-Gomu fruit than Luffy knows. That way, Netflix's One Piece can be in on the secret, rather than behind-the-times. Alternatively, those early scenes could feature an abundance of sun imagery - a knowing nod to fans up-to-date with Eiichiro Oda's anime and manga.
The chances of live-action One Piece running long enough to adapt the fight against Kaido and Luffy's Gear 5 Nika transformation are pretty remote, so an opportunity to pay off any foreshadowing may never arrive. Thanks to One Piece chapter 1044, however, fans can never see Luffy's origin story and Devil Fruit powers in the same way again, and the live-action series would enjoy smoother sailing if it embraces that element of secrecy, instead of ignoring it and sticking rigidly to the Gomu-Gomu facade.
